- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
I see a lot of Bees including a college savings fund in their baby budget, often from the beginning of TTC. For those who do, do you plan to pay for a large amount or even all of your child's college education? Did your parents pay for yours? For those who don't have a college savings fund, did you parents help with your college?
I'm just curious because my parents are helping me very slightly with college but not much, and I certainly never had a college savings fund as a child. I actually don't think any of my cousins did either, and I have about 40 cousins. I know people that had one as a kid but they were not in the majority, from what I know. I'm also wondering if how the parent pays for college affects what the parents do for their child.
No judgments on people who choose to pay or not to pay, I'm simply curious :)
ETA: This isn't to say that if you don't have a fund for your child now, you won't help at all- my parents have helped me a little. More about whether you actively plan to.
I have one for my little girls. Shoot they have more in college funds then We have in the wedding fund...
I dont know if we will be able to pay for all of college but they should have enough for the first year atleast! But for us to pay they will HAVE to keep their grades up and be taking a good sized course load.
if they dont go to college they get the money when they turn 23 or when they have their first child(whatever happens first)
And no my parents did not save any money for any of us kids but it is something I want to do for my child.
My grandparents started my savings account when I was born. Every year they would give me money for Christmas to plug into it. When I was in high school and junior college, I saved up a significant amount of money to go to a university. I paid my way through college with my savings and working full time.
When we have kids, we will start a savings account. We'll try to set aside somewhere between 1-3k a year for each child.
I would like to be able to help our children. My parents were able to help with part of mine (I still took out loans and was fortunate to get a lot in scholarships), but it is something I'd want to help out with.
DH's parents gave a little, but the rest was as a non-interest loan. So he still has to pay it back, albeit with no interest and not on a specific schedule.
College is expensive but becoming almost a necessity today. I can only imagine that 25 years from now it will be even moreso.
I still want them to work hard and appreciate their education though, so it won't be a blank check that pays for everything. But I don't want them to be 40 and still struggling to pay back tons in loans.
My parents started putting money into a mutual fund every single month from the day me and each of my siblings were born. They've worked with their investment advisor to determine how much they would have to contribute each month to have enough money (by the time we reached college) to pay for 4 years of tuition, room and board at an in-state public school. If we wanted to go somewhere out-of-state or private, we had to fund the difference ourselves through either scholarships or loans.
I was able to go to an out-of-state publis school for free between the money my parents saved and the scholarships I earned. My sister went to in-state public for free. DH's parents paid for the portion of his in-state public tuition that wasn't covered by his scholarships too (although they hadn't purposefully stocked away money for it).
DH and I plan to hopefully be able to similarly help our future children with their college educations.
@FutureKMM You're parents and my parents must have been on the same type of plan. They funded my education as long as it was in-state and a public university. Anywhere else and I would have had to pay the difference. SO wasn't quite as lucky. We've mutually decided that although paying for 4 full years might be out of the question (with rising tuition costs, etc.) we are going to try our hardest to help our children as much as we can.
I will not give my kids a free ride to college, but if they are working their tails off I will be willing to contribute.
While my parents didn't specifically start saving for my college, what the scholarship I have doesn't cover they pay for.
I intend to do this for my children too, provided they are trying to do well not blowing off classes, or failing due to lack of effort. I think, and this is the philosophy my parents have, that your job while you are in college is to be a student,and that job is much much easier if you aren't trying to go to class full time and work to pay for it too. I know people do it all the time, but if I can make my future children's life a little easier this way then I will.
I voted "other" because I honestly don't know. My parents did not have a college fund for either my brother or I. They were never able to just put a huge chunk at one time into our schooling. But, they did take some personal loans to help with tuition (for my undergrad, I paid for law school on my own), and they also helped me with expenses the whole time I was in college/law school (they paid my cell phone bill and car insurance and gave me $800/mo living expenses). Their help was hugely helpful and I came out of undergrad with only $9,000 in loans (although I tacked on another 70 in post grad--- freaking law school).
As for our hypothetical children... I would definitely like to help them but honestly it's not an absolute necessity in my mind. I'm sure that when they get to college we'll help them on a monthly basis like my parents did, but we'll only have a fund for tuition of we're able.
I don't think I'll have a special "college fund" but I'm good about saving money, so if possible I would defintiely like to help pay for my children's education. I wouldn't set up one of those state college funds though. Florida has some, but they have to go in-state, and I am not sure if they'd want to go out of state or go to college at all, so that seems risky to me. Hopefully they'll get good enough grades that they'll qualify for scholarships as well. :)
This is where my husband and I butt heads a little. My parents paid for all my college, his parents did not pay for any of his and naturally, we each think the way we had it was 'better'. I would like to give my kids a full ride as well if it is possible, he thinks they should have to pay for some of it themself and struggle as he did to learn the value of money and learn how to make it on their own. We will probably meet half way, and pay for some, but not all. We've discussed making it merit based.
It may seem like its very early to start saving for a college fund when just TTC, but saving for college fund is much like saving for retirement. The earlier you start saving, the more time you have for the money (I think it's usually invested during that time) to grow. Two key words - compounding interest. So saving as much as you can while the child is say 0-5 yrs old will probably end up to be more than if you saved the same amount but did it when they child was 5-10 yrs old.
Please check out UPromise, it is a website that allows you to log in purchases for participating products and you get a percentage of the purchase put into a college savings account for your kids. AND IT IS FREE - McDonalds, New York Life, and Hy-Vee all participate along with thousands of others.
I have had one of these for years and have quite a bit in it. My son is going to use it for books as grants are paying for most of his school now, but whatever is left over we will use for the youngest.
We will have a savings fund in place for our children however I'm sure it will not cover total costs for a 4 year degree. They can use this money to purchase their first car or save it for college but DH and I both agree that we will not pay their entire college education. DH and I paid for our education on our own and we expect the same for our children. They will need to work, take a part time load whatever the case in order to do it.
This is mainly how I feel. My parents pay my cell phone bill and they randomly help me out when I'm struggling. I pay rent and tuition but my parents often help me out with other bills. I also feel that a special college fund isn't necessary but I will try to help some- although I do think having to work and pay for college is a life lesson I want my kids to have too.
I do see a lot of people on the boards that count $1000+ in their baby budget and I just always thought of that budget as the absolute necesseties, which I don't see college as one of them. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion :)
My parents had money saved up (not in a specific fund or anything, but I knew there was $ there for college). They always told us that they would pay for the first 3 years and we would pay for anything after that (so we would value our education and know how much it was worth to achieve it).
I ended up getting some great scholarships and a wonderful job as a clarinet teacher while in school, so I didn't actually need any money from my parents. They gave me $800 per semester for the first couple years just to be supportive. Now I'm in law school, which I also have scholarships for, but my husband and I are paying whatever the scholarships don't cover.
My sister is at a private university and my parents are paying for 100% of her tuition and expenses (she does have a small scholarship). She's in her third year (of five because she's double majoring), and I honestly don't think my parents will actually stop giving her money in Year 4 or 5 (although, that could be because they ended up paying nothing for my college, so there's extra money).
My husband's parents saved about $60,000 for each kid and told them they could use it for college and keep whatever was left over (or they could not go to college at all, and get the money at age 25). My husband had some scholarships and worked each summer in college, so he was able to graduate with a little bit of the money leftover (which I believe ended up buying my engagement ring... haha!).
We want to have the funds available to send our kids to college (at least, to a reasonably-priced state school for four years), but I'll definitely be encouraging them very strongly to apply for as many scholarships as possible. Haha. Scholarships are AWESOME. I doubt we'll do what DH's parents did (give our kids leftover $), but I'd like to try to make sure our kids can get out of college without student loans.
I will definitely save for their college. My intention is to only have as many kids as I can afford to put through college. I do believe there should be some cost sharing responsibility so I would expect them to work part time for spending/book money.
@bluebonnet: I think we'll do something like your husband's family. Seems like a happy medium for providing $ but still giving the kids choices on how to use it.
In my family we were on our own to pay. Thankfully I got scholarships and grants for UG and worked multiple jobs to pay the rest, and law school I'm covering on my own with loans (ouch) and summer work. Mr.ND's family helped pay for about half of his college. I don't want to pay for all of my childrens' schooling, but I do want to contribute while still providing them incentive to work hard on their own and contribute as well. If we can't save up though, I won't feel bad, because I know that it can be done on your own if necessary. Working through UG wasn't super fun, but I learned a lot and took it very seriously.
I voted I will save money for my kids college but my parents didn't help me. I think generally, I would like for my kid to be able to go anywhere he wants to go. Since my parents didn't help me, I chose to go to the school that was covered through scholarships because I thought it was the financially smart decision; it wasn't the greatest school and I really feel I've been at a disadvantage because of it. I got into better schools but turned them down because I couldn't pay for them. I guess I hope my kid doesn't ever have to settle.
My grandpa started a college fund for me, which has covered the majority of my costs. I also have scholarships and loans, the lones are in my name and I will be taking them over when I graduate in May.
Like other posters have said, my parents have helped out with monthly bills when necessary. I only had one paying job throughout school but have completed 9 internships, so they felt that it was fine to help me out.
If we're able to we will definitely pay for our future kids tuition. I didn't finish school but the semesters that I did attend were paid for by my grandmother. My college fund was started the day I was born and by the time I graduated from high school, there was enough to cover 4 years.
Student loans are scary. We have friends and family who struggle every month just because of an insanely high student loan payment. In some of their cases, their loan is just as much as their mortgage. If I can avoid that for my kids, I will.
http://www.savingforcollege.com/tutorial101/the_real_cost_of_higher_education.php
Better start saving like yesterday. This is an eye-opener.
@pinkshoes: "Two key words - compounding interest."
So true. That's why it is so much better to start early. Just like with retirement funds.
We'll likely do some but not all. My parents gave me about 2k towards college, and the rest I paid myself. DH's parents paid for 1/3 of his college to help reduce the amount of debt they had. The funny thing was, he only has about 2k less in debt than me because I ended up getting a nice scholarship.
So, honestly, both ways worked well for us, and I would like our kids to have to work for their college education of they want it, but I would like to be able to help them too.
I am very lucky. My parents and grandparents covered the cost of my undergraduate education, MBA, and half of law school (me and fiance are picking up the second half..)
My family has always told me that my "job" was to gain admission to college and they would cover the expenses. When I was 11 my mom took a significant pay cut to work for a university. One of the benefits of working for this university is that they will apply half of their tuition to your child's tuition at any accredited institution. Since my sister and I decided to go to a private school, this chopped our tuition in a little more than half. My brother chose a public school out of state, so all of his tuition was covered.
In addition, my grandfather started a college fund for me the year I was born. Every year as part of my birthday/Chirstmas gift he gave me money to put into my savings account. My grandparents also covered my tuition for my first year of undergrad and my first year of law school.
My parents and grandparents covered all of my living expenses through undergrad and my MBA. They still cover about half of my living expenses.
I know that I have been very blessed and I will definitely do the same thing for my children.
My parents paid half my tuition and books. I had to cover the other half and living expenses. I was lucky enought to make enough money working multiple jobs in the summers and on breaks to not have to work during school.
I would like to be able to help my future children with college. I wouldn't pay for all of it, but definitely pay for something.
My parents paid for a little bit of my college, but I still worked full time during (or close to it) and I still had a lot of loans.
I don't think it's the parents responsibility to pay and anything they do pay is a blessing and extra. I would be horrified by a child who expected their parents to pay for all of it (without some huge reason.
Where I am there is a registered savings plan for your childs education - when you contribute to this up until they're at least 17, they are eligible for savings grants and bonds. Her father and I have been contributing into this for her since she was about 1, and I also have mutual funds set up in her name. I'm hoping that it will at least be enough to take the edge off by the time she's old enough to use it.
My parents didn't have any money saved for me to go to school, and knowing how hard it will be to get a job 10-15 yrs from now without an education I would like to help her as best I can. If I have the money to contrbute even more after she graduates, I will!
@kala_way i totally agree that it should NOT be expected, I just want to help her out as much as I can knowing that when she's ready to find a job it may not be possible without extended education.
BTW I LOVE YOUR PICTURE!
In my culture its usually parents pay for both School and weddings.. so usually there should be a fund for the kid. That being said- in my case - my dad will only pay half school tuition and my weddin expenses..( along side FI of course). I do hope that when me and my FI have kids that we would put away a trustfund for them and they can use it anyway they please- school/wedding whatever they need it for the most.
I don't want my children to feel like they MUST attend. If I can , of course our help will be available. I'd rather take money and travel the world and expose them to different cultures, home schooling and cultivating their interests and desires along the way. Then when its time to go to college, make them explore working first in settings of interest or just in general. Then when they truly feel through experience they know what they want, have them start a University program.
Ideally, we will live in Argentina which has free college education regardless of finances and academic achievement.
free college? Ok! I might try to convince FI to move to Argentina to then! maybe i can get away with my current student loan and continue college there for free :P Haha.
What we will do is pay for our childs college when they actually finish college. I do not want to pay for 2+ years of them drinking and partying their money away and drop out. We are fine if they decide college isnt for them, but they need to take responsibility for understanding how important hard work and money is. Once and if they do graduate then we will pay for whatever loans they've accumulated (school related!).
I will not be having a college fund for my future children and I had none of my school paid for. I've taken out loans, gotten grants, etc.
Personally if we are well off, then sure I will help them pay, BUT how realistic is it paying off your own student loans, mortgage, as well as paying for your own retirement. I'd be absolutely broke paying for my children's schooling. I would try to convince them to start out at a community college first and then transfer after 2 years or so to university.
We plan on saving money for our kids to use towards post secondary education, whatever that may be. I have worked since I was 15 years old and I was very, very lucky that my parents paid for school so that I could travel a bit in the summers inbetween years. (We also have family overseas so I went to visit them)
One of the best things my parents could have done for me was make me pay for my own college. It made me work harder to get scholarships and keep my grades up because I knew it was my money on the line. I plan to do the same for my kids
I'm very blessed that my parents paid for my undergrad. I did go to a JC and then transferred to a private school, so it came out to be a bit less than the public universities would have cost. I did have to get a loan for grad school, paid for most of it with my savings, and got help from my dad for a bit of it, too. I would hope to be able to provide for my children the way my parents provided for me.
College is just getting more and more expensive. Most jobs a degree is EXPECTED, so a college education is not quite the luxury it once was, it's become more of a necessity. Hell, a lot of jobs expect a Master's now. Some of these jobs probably don't even need a degree, but they're still required. I think that's unfortunate, because college isn't for everyone. Anyways, given that college is expected of many people, and it's expensive, I would hate for my children to start off their lives in debt.
My parents had an account set aside for me, but even with a scholarship, it didn't quite cover my out-of-state school including room & board. I got about $10,000 total in student loans to cover the rest. To be honest, I don't feel like having to take out a loan made me appreciate it more, work harder or understand money any more. I did really appreciate my parents' investment in my education and now that I am an adult, I think about often. I wouldn't be able to have the career and life I have today if they hadn't helped me.
DH's parents also paid for his college, and we both want to pay as much as we can for our children. However, with the quickly rising cost of college, I'm realistic that we may not be able to pay for all of it. When our kids are in high school, I really want to get them on a plan to save half of whatever they earn at a part-time job so they don't have to take out loans. Also, we will 100% expect them to get some sort of scholarship. If they don't, they will have to make the difference themselves.
This is something my FI and I have been on the same page about since the beginning. His parents saved for his college education and helped him all the way through, and because of it he started off his adult life with virtually no debt and amazing credit to start building with. Me, on the other hand, I had no money saved whatsoever by my parents because my mom is atrocious with money. Despite this, she encouraged me to follow my dreams and I ended up at a super expensive private school. While I will never regret this because it's where I met FI and many other wonderful things happened for me, I did graduate with a HUGE amount of debt in loans that I'll be repaying the next 20 years or so :/
I want to save for our children's college educations because I believe it's important for them to go to college and receive an education. I want to do things smart, the way his parents did, so they have a chance to start off right in life. I believe that I do owe that to them, and that I will raise them to be respectful and understand what we've done for them and be thankful for it.
My husband met with our financial planner and we are planning on putting in $60k per child for college education. This is what the financial planner estimated the cost of college, room, board, tuition etc per child. If our children get a scholarship, the money that was put aside for college will be given to them probably after they graduate for a deposit on their first home.
My parents had/have college accounts for all four of us - but they are 529 plans that carry over to the next child and they agreed to do the same amount(ish) for all of us. We'll do the same.
I see a lot of people thinking that because your parents helped pay for college it somehow is less motivation to do well? If anything for me it was MORE. I got a TON of scholarships to college, kept the Ga HOPE scholarship the whole time, and pushed myself to finish in 3 years instead of 4...with Honors no less. And yep they helped pay for it. My brother is on a similar track right now too. We do not take advantage of their generosity or pre-planning.
I will raise my kids to respect money and to work for things. If they're failing out of college no I won't help anymore. But if they are trying their best and working of course I would love to help. I'm not paying for their parties, but a public college education will at least receive some of my support. There's no telling how expensive it will be by then though! So we probably won't pay for it ALL.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| aussiebee | 10 |
| MrsOliveBird | 9 |
| janetsnakehole | 8 |
| j_jaye | 5 |
| Rivendeler | 5 |
| simpleandchic | 4 |
| Scottish_lassie | 4 |
| Adalita | 4 |
| MabelleBliss | 3 |
| Sarahbear | 3 |
Sorry, there are no users yet.
